Eimskip postpones newbuildings and negotiates discount

The Icelandic ship owner and operator of container liner services Eimskip has announced that it successfully managed to defer the delivery of two 875 teu container vessels from China’s Rongcheng Shenfei Shipyard by about one year. At the same time, Eimskip renegotiated the price from USD 25 million per ship to only USD 20 million.

Originally scheduled for delivery in April and July of this year, the sister ships will now be handed over in the first half of 2014.

Besides negotiating the delivery delay, Eimskip has negotiated a reduction of the vessels’ purchase price by about 20% which equals a reduction of USD 10 million for the pair.

The shipping line said it had already paid USD 26 million to the shipyard, which equals about 70% of the altered purchase price of the vessels. The investment is financed with equity and with a bridge loan for the building period from an Icelandic bank and with long term financing from a foreign bank.

Eimskip assured that the delay of the vessels will not affect its services, as the line will extend contracts for some of its chartered-in tonnage in lieu of the newbuildings.